Der Barbier von Bagdad

(The Barber of Baghdad) by Peter Cornelius (1824-1874).
Komische Oper in two acts, 1858.
Libretto by Peter Cornelius, after The Arabian Nights.
First performance at the Weimar Hoftheater on 15th December 1858.

CHARACTERS

Nureddin is in love with Margiana. The barber Abul Hassan is summoned to prepare him for his meeting with her, but his talkative nature and attempts to help Nureddin induce the latter to pretend to his servants that Abul Hassan is ill, leaving him in their care. The Cadi has intended to marry his daughter to an old friend, but he is called to prayer and the lovers are left alone, their meeting interrupted by the re- appearance of Abul Hassan, trying to help, and the return of the Cadi. Nureddin hides in a trunk that had contained the presents sent by Margiana's other suitor and Abul Hassan, thinking Nureddin dead, tries to remove the trunk, to the anger of the Cadi, who thinks Abul Hassan is a thief. Matters are settled by the arrival of the Caliph.

Cornelius wrote his opera with the encouragement of Liszt, then employed at the Weimar court. The work underwent various changes at the hands of others but in its restored original form retains a place in German operatic repertoire. The part of the barber offers a fine comic rôle.